Chapter 153 Farewell to the Slavic Woman
"Woo..." The sharp and piercing air defense alarm exploded above the dense forest. Yuri, who was lying on the bed, trembled and suddenly woke up from his sleep.
Staring at the ceiling of the tent for a while, Yuri wiped his face and climbed up from the camp bed.
It was another German air raid. Over the past week, as the Soviets continued to build fortifications on the long front south of Kursk from Shebekino to Gertsovka, German planes came to harass almost every day.
This harassment was not large-scale. The Germans sent out three or four planes each time. They either machine-gunned civilians digging trenches or bombed densely populated areas. When Soviet fighter planes arrived to fight, they retreated first. Therefore, the air defense alarms on the Soviet positions sounded three or four times almost every day.
Such harassment was not effective, but it did cause considerable casualties to Soviet civilians who were involved in digging trenches. However, as casualties increased, the fighting spirit of the nation gradually emerged. The continuous bombing not only failed to scare off the Soviet civilians who had been summoned, but also stimulated their enthusiasm for work, so that the trench digging work progressed faster and faster.
Putting on his military uniform and tidying up his appearance, Yuri slowly walked out of the tent.
Looking up at the sky at the door of the tent, through the layers of shadows of trees that had just sprouted green buds, you could see three fighter planes circling in the air on the east side of the woods.
Yuri frowned and looked around for a while, and when the air raid sirens stopped, he walked towards the outskirts of the woods.
The tent was set up not far from the inside of the woods. A few dozen steps away was the open space outside the forest. More than a hundred meters to the east was the quietly flowing Vorskla River. The defensive trenches were built between the woods and the river beach.
Seeing Yuri walking out of the woods, Arseni hurriedly chased after him with two guards. He didn't dare to persuade Yuri not to take risks outside, so he could only remain vigilant and guard him at all times.
Walking out of the woods, the first thing you see is an undulating slope. A red flag with a sickle and hammer is planted on the top of the slope. Two soldiers from the art troupe, a man and a woman in military uniforms, are standing under the red flag and singing loudly.
"...Goodbye, father's land, please remember us. Goodbye, dear eyes, we will not be afraid to leave..."
These two soldiers were from the most famous Red Banner Song and Dance Troupe in the Soviet Union. In order to fight the Battle of Kursk well, Stalin personally issued an order to send this gem of the Soviet Red Army to the front line to boost morale.
However, when these actors arrived at the front, they only had one show to perform, which was to sing the song "Farewell to the Slavic Women" at the construction sites of various fortifications. This song was once banned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union because it belonged to the old army during the Russian Empire. However, during the Battle of Moscow last year, it was brought out again and played at the Red Square military parade, inspiring hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers to go to the front.
Now, this song is played again in the Kursk area. Perhaps Stalin and the people in the Supreme Command also hope for a good omen.
After going around the gentle slope, Yuri saw a huge and imposing project. Along the winding Volskla River, a long dragon of people stretched across the riverbank, from east to west, and the long dragon did not end as far as the eye could see. The long dragon consisted of not only adult men, but also elderly people, women, and a large number of children. This was a huge project built by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.
Because of the shortage of supplies in the army, these mobilized ordinary people not only had no wages, but also no food rations. They even had to bring their own tools. However, they seemed willing to bear any price to win the war. After years of war, not only the Russians, but even the Ukrainians who once regarded the Germans as liberators were full of hatred for the German fascists. To use a very clichéd saying: On the territory of the Soviet Union, the German army was truly trapped in the vast ocean of people's war.
German fighter planes bombed and strafed in the air, and the Soviet anti-aircraft guns at the front of the position were not to be outdone. The inspiring songs were mixed with the rumble of artillery and the roar of fighter planes. Someone was killed in the trenches and anti-tank trenches, and was immediately carried out by the people next to them and placed aside. The vacant position was immediately replaced by another old man, woman or child - war is indeed the best tool to transfer domestic conflicts. Judging from this atmosphere, the Soviet Union will not have any problem continuing for a few decades.
Yuri was very satisfied with Golikov's work, and it was difficult for him to find any faults.
Considering the time factor, Yuri planned to go to the northern front this afternoon to check the situation. Four days later, he would need to rush to Korocha, where the command of the Steppe Military District would move in two days and complete the work of forming the Steppe Front. Ivan Stepanovich Konev, who performed poorly in the Battle of Moscow, accepted the post of commander of the front on Zhukov's recommendation.
It is said that after receiving the appointment, Konev recommended his old friend German Kapitonovich Malankin as the front's chief of staff, but was directly rejected by Stalin. In the end, Matvey Vasilyevich Zakharov, recommended by Vasilevsky, got the position. The military commissar of the front was Ivan Zakharovich Susaikov by Khrushchev. Yuri also wrote a special letter of recommendation for Susaikov after receiving Khrushchev's instructions. In fact, he did not know Susaikov.
After entering the position of Chief of Operations, Yuri began to get in touch with some things in the core circle. He finally understood that the appointment of high-level commanders of the front was not as simple as he imagined. There were many conflicts of interest involved. Everyone who had a say was cultivating power for themselves and trying to recommend people they trusted or were close to to key positions.
In fact, Khrushchev was very dissatisfied with the appointment of the commander of the Steppe Front. For some reason, he just looked down on Konev. Two days ago, when Yuri met with him, this committee member even hinted to him that he should embarrass Konev when inspecting Korocha.
However, Yuri didn't really plan to do so. Khrushchev had some resistance to military personnel and didn't know much about these commanders. Therefore, he had only two opinions when judging whether a commander was competent: pleasing to the eye or not. This emotional judgment was irrational. Although Yuri didn't pay much attention to the Soviet-German War in his previous life, he still knew Konev. This guy was not simple and was very good at commanding operations. The most important thing was that the grievances between this man and Zhukov were very interesting. The relationship between the two seemed harmonious, but in fact there were many struggles, and this kind of struggle was what Yuri liked to see.
Perhaps Yuri himself did not realize at this moment that he had unconsciously regarded Zhukov as his enemy. I just don't know what Zhukov would feel if he knew this.
After spending the whole morning inspecting the defensive positions along the Vorskla River, Yuri rushed to Gostishchevo by military vehicle before noon, where he would change to a train and head to Smolodnoye on the Styva River line, which was the Central Front's war zone. The Soviet troops stationed there were the 17th Guards Infantry Army.
After receiving the news that Yuri was going to the north, Golikov came from Berenishino, accompanied by the army chief of staff Kazakov and military commissar Kuznetsov. During lunch time, several people held a small meeting and exchanged some views on the issue of defensive operations.
In fact, the people present had already understood one fact, that is, if Yuri had not spoken for Golikov and the Voronezh Front in front of Stalin, they would have probably been sent to the rear by now, and their current jobs would probably be in charge of cadre work or as researchers at a military academy. In short, they were hidden away.
As a soldier, if you cannot command operations during war, it means you are unemployed and your future is bleak. Therefore, even though they don't say it, they are grateful to Yuri in their hearts.
Since several major commanders of the front were present, Yuri was not polite and directly talked about his views on the upcoming war. From Yuri's point of view, his only guiding ideology was defense, resolute defense, and wearing down the German offensive forces in the defense. In this process, he must never take the initiative to launch an offensive against the German army, even a local offensive.
It doesn't matter if the defense line is lost. We can retreat to defend the second line of defense. As long as we can hold on to the last line of defense until the moment of counterattack, it will be a victory for the Voronezh Front and a victory for their commanders.
Regardless of their true thoughts, Golikov and his men accepted Yuri's opinion. After all, he was now the representative of the headquarters, and his operational thinking probably represented Stalin's views. For commanders like Golikov who had redeemed themselves for their crimes, going against Stalin's intentions was a serious mistake. They knew very well that if this battle failed again, their fate would not be as simple as being transferred to the rear.
