Chapter 152 Inspection
Perhaps Serov did not tell Khrushchev about this, or perhaps Serov did not know that Yuri held a position in the State Security Committee. In any case, when Yuri met Khrushchev again with trepidation, he did not feel anything unusual from him. The future big man was still so warm and friendly in his attitude towards him.
The General Staff arranged a special plane for Yuri to go to Kursk, but Yuri did not take it. Instead, he traveled with Khrushchev. By this time, he no longer minded being labeled as Khrushchev.
The plane took off from Moscow, but for safety reasons, it did not fly directly to Kursk. Instead, it flew around Ryazan, passed Lipetsk, Yelets, and finally arrived at Marino. The whole journey took 4 hours. During these four hours, Yuri also took a nap to replenish his energy.
It was a coincidence that when Yuri and his team arrived in Marino, it was raining in the Kursk region. This was the first rain in the Kursk region since the beginning of spring this year. The rain was very light, with some snowflakes in between, giving people a cold feeling.
Marino is not only the headquarters of the Second Air Force Army, but also the base of the 206th Fighter Aviation Division under the army. The army headquarters had already received news of Yuri and Khrushchev's arrival, so when the plane landed, the army commander Lieutenant General Krasovsky was already waiting at the airport.
Stepan Akimovich Krasovsky, a middle-aged Belarusian with a bald head, is a very inconspicuous guy if you don't look at the small "Hitler-style" mustache under his nose. However, this guy is a top-ranked capable person among the generals of the Soviet Air Force.
For Yuri, before this, he had almost no experience in dealing with air force commanders, because he had always been on the ground and was a standard army officer. However, his work as the Minister of Operations during this period gave him a general understanding of some issues in the Air Force.
Not to mention Khrushchev, just Yuri and Krasovsky, the latter's military rank is obviously higher than the former. However, this time Yuri came to Kursk as a representative of the headquarters. Therefore, in terms of status and authority, Yuri is the higher one.
But then again, Yuri came to the Kursk region to inspect the construction of the defense line, and the work of the Air Force was not within his authority, so Yuri had no intention of staying in Marino. He said goodbye to Khrushchev in Marino, and then borrowed three military vehicles from the Air Force, escorted by Arseni and his guards, and headed straight to Bobreshevo.
Because of the recent war, the highway from Marino to Bobreshevo was almost completely paralyzed. The road conditions were extremely bad and it was impossible to pass. It was not until nearly midnight that Yuri and his party arrived at the Voronezh Front Command in Bobreshevo.
Although it was already midnight, the entire front headquarters was still brightly lit. Golikov, the commander of the front, had not slept yet and was holding a meeting with officials from local government functional departments such as Kursk, Shipe, Oboyan, and Prokhorovka. These cities were all located along the Psel River. The Voronezh Front needed to build fortifications on the right bank of the river as soon as possible. This was also the third line of defense that the Voronezh Front needed to hold.
The trenches that the Voronezh Front had to build in Kursk had a total length of more than 4,000 kilometers. In addition to the trenches, a large number of anti-tank artillery positions, anti-tank minefields, transportation road networks, river bridges and other facilities needed to be built on these three lines of defense. Such a huge project would be difficult to complete in a short period of time relying solely on the soldiers of the front. Therefore, the army needed full support from local and government sources.
The order from the Supreme Command was officially transmitted to the local area at noon. In a practical sense, since noon, the area outside Kursk has become an actual military jurisdiction. All government operations here must give way to military needs, including mobilizing the masses to build fortifications.
There was no logic at this time. Any Soviet citizen in the area had to dig ditches if the army told them to, and to transport soil if they were told to, and there was only one outcome for those who disobeyed orders, and that was execution - this had nothing to do with the Soviet state system or political structure; it was purely a national need, and it was the same in any country.
The same situation was also true north of Kursk, in the Central Front's defense zone, where the length of trenches exceeded 5,000 kilometers.
Now, no one can be sure when the German offensive will be launched, so the sooner the defensive line is built, the better.
As a representative of the base camp, Yuri appeared at the meeting midway and listened in on the subsequent meeting content.
Golikov attached great importance to the orders from the headquarters. He divided the entire defense line into several sections and assigned each section to the respective regions for construction. He also made corresponding regulations on how many citizens should be recruited from each region to participate in the construction and how much time it would take. Prior to this, he had already made detailed arrangements for the construction of the first and second lines of defense.
As a person attending the meeting, Yuri did not speak a word from beginning to end. He just listened carefully and took detailed notes. These things might be useful later. After all, if there is a problem, the corresponding responsible person must be investigated.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, the task of the front is very arduous," Golikov did not see off the local officials after the meeting, but went directly to talk to Yuri, "However, I have made detailed arrangements for the construction of the defense line, and the specific work will be fully launched within 12 hours."
Yuri nodded and was about to speak when Golikov continued, "I plan to move the front headquarters to Berenishino."
As he said this, he waved to the guard standing at the door, who trotted over and handed a map to Golikov.
"Berenishino is only 40 kilometers away from Lukic and Shalyovo ," Yuri said without looking at the map, frowning, "and according to the headquarters' prediction, the first wave of the German offensive will most likely be launched from that line and rush to Prokhorovka from there. Isn't it too risky for you to move the front headquarters there?"
After thinking for a while, he continued, "Isn't it at the junction of the 8th Guards Tank Army and the 48th Infantry Army? Well, your choice makes sense."
Golikov was silent for a while. To be honest, as a senior commander who had participated in the Civil War, Golikov did not take Yuri, a young commander who was rising rapidly, seriously. Although Yuri helped him a lot in Moscow and saved him from Stalin's punishment, he was mostly grateful to Yuri, but he could not say he admired him.
However, Yuri's two simple sentences did change Golikov's opinion of this young man. After all, this young man did have military talent and vision.
Yes, Golikov planned to place the front headquarters in Berenishino, and he did have his own ideas.
Among the possible attack directions that the German army might choose, Golikov also believed that the two areas of Lukic and Shalyovo were the most likely preferred targets. So, once one of these two places was captured by the German army, Berenishino would definitely be the next target of the German army.
Judging from the current defense deployment of the Voronezh Front, Berenishino is located at the junction of the 8th Guards Tank Army and the 48th Infantry Army, and the junction is often the weak point of defense. Looking at the geographical location of Berenishino, the city is located at the bend of the Vorskla River. If the German army chooses this place as the main assault direction, Golikov can deploy a large-scale artillery unit on the right bank of the river to effectively block the German offensive forces.
Fundamentally speaking, Golikov's battle plan was very risky. However, Yuri did not intend to make too many comments because he was responsible for the formulation of battle plans at the campaign level. As for the specific combat deployment at the next level of the campaign, that was the business of the front commander and he had no say in it.
With only a brief understanding of Golikov's deployment, Yuri began to inquire about the situation of the various units under the front, such as where the various units under the 9th Tank Army were deployed, where the various units under the 9th Guards Tank Army were deployed, and the 9th Guards Army... In addition to the deployment situation, Yuri also asked about the status of the troops and weapons in each unit. If any unit's equipment or supply troops were not in place, he would also need to ask the reason, where the problem was, and then he would investigate who was responsible.
Golikov answered all the questions raised by Yuri without hesitation, which shows that both of them had done solid work beforehand.
Yuri certainly would not believe Golikov's report completely just by listening to it. At the end of the conversation, he proposed that starting from tomorrow, he would go to the garrison areas of the subordinate troops of the front to get a real understanding of the specific situation. At the same time, he would also go to various defense lines to see the construction of fortifications there.
It was the first time that Yuri inspected the war zone as a representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters. As soon as he arrived, he demonstrated his work style: rigorous, efficient, and impartial, which was crucial to establishing his personal image.
