Chapter 204
Continuous drizzle has been plaguing the entire coastal area of the Gulf of Azov. It is already the end of August, and the continuous rainy weather has not only brought a lot of precipitation, but also a slight chill like the beginning of autumn.
Shakhty, the temporary location of the headquarters of the 4th Ukrainian Front, at the temporary airport in the northern suburbs, more than a dozen military jeeps lined up in a long queue, rolling over the flooded gravel road and slowly stopping at the edge of the only runway at the airport.
This airport was temporarily built a few days ago, and the road leading to the city is still under construction. Although the front headquarters mobilized two engineering regiments to build the road, due to the continuous rainy weather, the road was ultimately not completed as scheduled.
In the first jeep, a young man with the rank of major jumped out of the co-pilot cabin first. Holding an umbrella, he walked to the door of the back seat, opened the door for the person inside, and leaned over to protect the other person's head, fearing that he would hit his head.
The person who got off the car was a general with a square face, who was nearly fifty years old and had a furrowed brow, indicating that he was not in a very good mood at the moment.
Standing under the car, he squinted his eyes and glanced at the gloomy sky, then stretched the sleeves of his military coat, then turned around and looked at another general who got out of the car right after him, and said, "Comrade Sergei Semyonovich, are you sure he is coming at this time?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander Fedor Ivanovich," the general who got off the car later also had a square face, a sturdy build, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he looked full of energy.
Fedor Ivanovich is the current commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front, Fedor Ivanovich Tolbukhin. He is an old soldier, but he is a low-key person. In addition, his health is not good, so he seldom does things that show up in public.
"What do you think? I'm just saying what do you think," Tolbukhin, looking a little pale, hesitated and asked, "What kind of person is Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich? I heard that you two are very familiar with each other?"
Sergei Semyonovich, also known as Biryuzov, had been with Yuri in the 209th Battalion when they had spent some time together in the wounded camp on the Teterev River. They had a good relationship. At that time, Biryuzov was already the division commander.
Now, time flies, only two years have passed, Biryuzov is now the chief of staff of the 4th Ukrainian Front, and two days ago, his rank was just promoted from major general to lieutenant general . And what about Yuri? He is also a lieutenant general, but he is the chief of the Operations Department. This time he came to the southern front as a representative of the headquarters to supervise the battle, and even Tolbukhin had to pick him up at the airport in person.
Of course, Biryuzov had no jealousy towards Yuri, even though he was much younger than him. The reason was simple: everything Yuri had today was gained on the battlefield. This young and somewhat overconfident general had fought many tough and beautiful battles. After two years of fighting the Germans, the troops he commanded had not been defeated by the Germans, nor had they been annihilated as a whole. This was a talent in itself.
"In my opinion, Yuri...haha, is a very easy-going person," Biryuzov said with a smile in response to Tolbukhin's question.
It was a very simple answer, but it revealed a lot of meaning. For example, Birozov did not call Yuri by his full name, but only called him by his first name, which shows that the relationship between the two should be very good.
After a brief conversation, people in the cars behind also gathered together.
At this moment, the roar of an airplane engine was heard in the air. Looking closely, one could see a small black dot flying towards them from the northern sky, seemingly slowly but actually quickly.
Behind Tolbukhin and Biryuzov were the commanders of the various subordinate armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front. Watching the planes rapidly approaching the airport, almost everyone subconsciously straightened their uniforms - these people were all survivors of the purge, and no one wanted to leave a bad impression on the representatives of the headquarters.
Ten minutes later, the plane finally came to a shaky stop on the runway. The cabin door opened and two soldiers with guns on their backs jumped out first. They lowered a ladder, and then a colonel-level officer came down, followed by a young general in a brand new military coat.
The young general was naturally Yuri, and the colonel-level officer in front was Arseniy.
After walking out of the cabin, the first thing Yuri did was to look up at the sky. This damn weather was really frustrating.
Coming to the southern front to supervise the war was not Yuri's choice, but an order from Comrade Stalin. The commander hoped that his will could be instilled into the entire Fourth Ukrainian Front, so he needed to arrange a representative to come and take full control of the war here.
Comrade Stalin did not trust Tolbukhin's ability. He did not even intend to trust the ability of every commander of the former Southern Front (the Fourth Ukrainian Front was reorganized from the former Southern Front). He only trusted the few people around him, such as Zhukov, Vasilevsky, Yuri, etc. Therefore, every time a large-scale battle was carried out, he would delegate representatives from the headquarters.
But Yuri didn't like this job. Compared with being the representative of the headquarters, he would rather command a front to fight. His personal resume lacked such experience.
As we walked down the stairs, commanders from the 4th Ukrainian Front came to meet us. Walking in the front was naturally the front commander Tolbukhin.
Although Yuri was on the same level as Tolbukhin in terms of position, as a young man, he saluted the old soldier first, showed him the corresponding appointment documents, and verbally conveyed Comrade Stalin's greetings. Then he turned his gaze to Biryuzov on the side, and a warm smile appeared on his originally serious face.
"Hey, Seryoza, it's great to see you here!" Yuri smiled happily as he stepped forward, shook Biruzov's hand, and then gave him a tight hug.
Yuri was not acting at this moment, he was expressing his true feelings.
Just four days ago, he received news that Colonel Sidor Solomonovich Polynikov, who was wounded in the battle to break through the Leningrad blockade, had died. He was seriously wounded in the battle a month ago and finally died after suffering for nearly a month.
Back in Berezna, Yuri took over the 34th Infantry Brigade, which was in a bad situation, and officially served as the brigade commander. The deputy brigade commander at that time was Major Polynikov, and the military commissar was Demel Andreevich.
At that time, Polynikov had just transferred from the Kharkov Infantry Academy. Although he was energetic and enthusiastic about fighting, he seemed extremely inexperienced in practical experience. As a result, Yuri and he and most of the combat staff of the brigade had an unpleasant relationship at that time.
The day before yesterday, Polynikov's funeral was held in Fateikino Village in Kharkov. Yuri made a special trip there, where he met many of Polynikov's comrades and colleagues, but there was only one . This former combat staff officer of the 34th Infantry Brigade is now the deputy director of a military uniform factory in Kharkov. He had his legs blown off in the battle to liberate Kharkov and had to retire.
War is always so cruel, and in this cruelty, the fate of an individual seems too humble.
Perhaps it was because of his previous experiences that Yuri felt so close and happy when he saw his old friend Biryuzov again.
"Come on, Yuri, let me introduce you to the commanders of the front," said Biryuzov, holding his arm after a brief conversation with Yuri.
Because it is on the eve of a major war, and Yuri, as the representative of the headquarters, needs to know the reports from the commanders of the various combat units of the front, so many people came today, and all the army-level commanders were present.
Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Dmitrievich Tsvetayev, commander of the 9th Assault Army, Lieutenant General Vasily Filipovich Gerasimenko, commander of the 28th Army, Major General Vasily Afanasyevich Khomenko, commander of the 44th Army, Lieutenant General Georgy Fedorovich Zakharov, commander of the 2nd Guards Army, Lieutenant General Yakov Grigorievich Kreizer, and Lieutenant General of the Air Force Timofey Timofeyevich Khryukin, commander of the 9th Air Force Army.
Yuri had never dealt with these people except Lieutenant General Zakharov. Everyone was a stranger to him. In the past, these people's names were just symbols recorded in the mind of him as the Minister of Operations. Now, he finally met the real people.
Under Biryuzov's introduction, Yuri shook hands with each person and had a brief conversation with them, trying to match their names with their appearances and embed them in his memory.
In less than ten minutes, after shaking hands and greeting the commanders of the front's combat forces one by one, Yuri was invited to get on Tolbukhin's jeep. Then, the long convoy turned on the muddy road and drove towards the city.
Yuri arrived at Schacht as a representative of the headquarters, which meant that a summer offensive of the Soviet army was about to begin on the southern front. For this huge offensive aimed at liberating southern Ukraine, blockading the German army group on the Crimean Peninsula, and threatening Romania, the headquarters mobilized nearly 600,000 heavy troops, equipped with more than 5,000 artillery pieces and 1,100 combat aircraft.
The thick cloud of war was gathering over the entire Northern Tavria, and the eyes of the whole world were focused on it. Those who knew the inside story knew that this was not a simple battle, but an offensive operation that was related to the strategic direction.
