Chapter 208
After hearing Yuri say that he wanted to contact Moscow, the atmosphere in the whole hall became even more depressing. All the staff officers avoided looking at each other, and no one dared to look up, including the one who just came in to deliver the letter. Beside Yuri, the generals accompanying him also looked as if they wanted to say something but hesitated, even Biryukov.
Seeing no one responded, Yuri's expression became even gloomier. He knew what these people were thinking. They simply thought that he was going to complain to the headquarters. But the fact was, Yuri had no interest in complaining to anyone. What mattered to him was the outcome of the battle and the 9th Assault Army, which had already exposed its back to the enemy's armored corps.
Of course, Yuri was also very clear that as long as he made this call, Stalin would learn about the situation on the southern front. Tolbukhin, who had just made the decision to transfer the 19th Tank Army to the southern front, would definitely not have a good ending. Because it was this decision that weakened the 51st Army, making it impossible for the Soviet army to successfully break through the German defense line and fail to play the role of covering the flank of the 9th Army, thus aborting the first phase of the entire campaign.
But is it okay not to make this call? Of course, it is not possible.
Now, what Yuri wants to do is to save this unfavorable situation as much as possible, and to achieve this goal, he needs the support of the Third Ukrainian Front, and this support is not something he can get just because he wants it. Konev is not a good person to talk to, and even if he is good at talking to him, Yuri can't do that. He came to the Fourth Ukrainian Front to supervise the battle and has no power to mobilize combat troops in another direction. Otherwise, if it affects the war situation, he can't afford to be punished.
Furthermore, if he sat back and watched the current battle situation, it would be fine if the unfavorable situation could be changed. At most, when the battle summary was made, Tolbukhin would be reprimanded, and then withdraw from the front line and go to the rear to do other work. But what if it could not be changed? Who would take the responsibility if the entire southern line collapsed? Tolbukhin would certainly not be able to escape, and Yuri would probably have to suffer the consequences. In addition, none of these guys present would be able to get away with it.
This group of nonsensical guys don't care about politics at all. They don't consider the actual situation and are only concerned with acting on impulse. It seems that all the psychological trauma from three or four years ago has now been released!
Looking at the silent people in the room, Yuri's rage grew stronger. He would not explain his thoughts to those people present, nor would he tell them where they were wrong. That was the job of the military judge, and he was the representative of the base. In terms of military rank, he was the highest among those present. What he needed to do was to give orders, not chat with anyone.
Glancing at the silent crowd, Yuri reached out for his military cap, put it on his head with a serious expression, and asked without turning his head: "Comrade Biryukov, where is Comrade Yefim Afanasyevich?"
When he mentioned this name, all the staff officers present changed their expressions. Biryukov stepped forward and said, "Comrade Yefim Afanasievich is not in good health..."
Yuri looked back at him, interrupted him and asked again: "I'm asking where he is now?"
Yefim Afanasyevich refers to Shatenko, who is currently a member of the Military Committee of the 4th Ukrainian Front and also serves as the director of the political department.
Yuri went to see Shakenko at this time. Although he didn't say what his purpose was, everyone knew that it was definitely not a good thing. On a big scale, as a representative of the headquarters, Yuri could ask Shakenko to start a military tribunal for the front. Whoever was tried at that time would be in trouble. On a small scale, he seemed to be joking.
"They should be on their way," Biryukov had no choice but to tell the truth.
After a pause, he said to the staff officer who had just come to report the news: "Go and call and ask where Comrade Yefim Afanasievich is exactly."
"Yes," the staff officer said cautiously.
"Also, have the signalmen move the communication station here immediately," Biryuzov said sternly, "We must get in touch with Moscow in ten minutes!"
"Yes!" The staff officer responded loudly, turned around and ran out again.
Ignoring his little thoughts, Yuri fumbled in his pocket, took out a cigarette, lit one for himself, and walked towards the entrance of the hall.
After walking out of the hall, Yuri did not go out, but went up the stairs to the second floor which was almost half collapsed. Several Soviet soldiers were cleaning the stairs, and dust was flying everywhere.
He went up from the second floor to the third floor, the fourth floor, and finally to the fifth floor. The stairs were completely blocked by fallen stone slabs. He stopped, stepped over a broken body in a German uniform, and walked to the large hole facing west.
The big hole should have been caused by a bomb dropped from an airplane. It almost occupied the entire wall. Scattered steel bars protruded from the wall, one by one, all bent and deformed. A tattered swastika flag was hung on a broken steel bar, with half an arm torn from one corner of the flag.
The owner of the arm was half buried in the rubble, with only the area above the chest exposed. Under the blood-stained M35 helmet was a thin and childish face. Judging from his age, he was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
Seeing Yuri standing by the wall, several Soviet soldiers in charge of the cleanup work hurried over, pulled the two nearby corpses out of the rubble, and threw them directly downstairs through the gap.
Yuri looked to the west and saw an air battle going on. He raised his telescope and looked at that location again, only to see a black fighter plane being blown up in the air. Then, two Soviet fighter planes roared past and headed straight to the west.
"Yuri, I want to talk to you," just then , Biryuzov's voice came from behind.
In private, Biryuzov always called Yuri by his name directly. This was a skill in dealing with people that could bring people closer together and appear friendly rather than distant.
Yuri put down the binoculars, turned around, threw away the curled hair between his fingers, and nodded silently.
"Don't take what happened just now to heart," Biryuzov said with a smile, "They didn't disobey orders, it's just that your order was a bit sudden, and they didn't react for a while."
This was obviously an excuse, but Yuri had no intention of exposing him. After all, Yuri was not the kind of person who would take revenge, and deep down, he didn't want to make a big deal out of this matter.
As a representative of the base, Yuri has his own logic of doing things. It can be said that every representative of the base has his own logic of doing things: there are those like Zhukov who like to steal the show, those like Vasilevsky who think everyone is happy, and those like Mehlis who say nothing to your face but report you behind your back.
All in all, Yuri should be considered as being relatively moderate. He is not so strong, but he is not a pushover either. He likes to be straightforward and will not say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs. Generally speaking, he has only one principle: front commander, if you are capable, you come and I will watch. If you are not capable, let me take over.
"Don't worry, I'm not targeting anyone today, and I have no interest in targeting anyone," Yuri said with a smile on his serious face, "I'm just thinking about this battle, Sergei, yes, this damn battle. You should know that we are in trouble now."
"Yes, the front staff made a serious mistake," Biryukov nodded and said, "We ignored the movements of the German 1st Tank Army. In this regard, I, as the chief of staff, bear unshirkable responsibility. However, now is not the time to determine responsibility. I think the most important thing is to save the unfavorable situation."
Yuri glanced at him and said nothing.
From this point of view, Biryukov is a competent chief of staff. At least he did not think of shirking responsibility, but took the responsibility of the commander on himself. This is really commendable. You know, his shoulders are much thinner than Tolbukhin's.
"The front's reserve troops cannot be replenished in a short time," Yuri did not dwell on the issue of responsibility. He changed the subject and said, "We need a force with stronger assault power to fill the gap in the 51st Army's assault capability. My suggestion is to apply to the headquarters and ask the Third Ukrainian Front to change its deployment. The 12th Army will launch an offensive in the direction of Kramatorsk to attack the flank of the German 4th Infantry Army and force it to retreat..."
As Yuri said this, a staff officer ran up the stairs and said, "Comrade General Yuri Arisipovich, the line has been connected."
Yuri stopped talking and walked quickly towards the stairs.
Going down from the fifth floor, the hall seemed even more noisy. Radio stations were placed step by step near the east wall, and the communications soldiers were still busy working nervously.
Under the guidance of the staff officer, Yuri walked to a telephone station where the telephone line was still being sorted out, and took the microphone from the communications soldier.
"It's Comrade Alexander Mihajlovich," the staff officer leading the way whispered.
Yuri nodded, put the microphone to his ear, and said, "Comrade Alexander Mihaylovich, I am Yuri Arkhipovich."
"Hello, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," the person on the other end of the phone was Vasilevsky, and his voice sounded a little hoarse.
"Hello," Yuri said, "Comrade Alexander Mihaylovich, I need you to make a simple record of what I am going to say next. There are some new problems here, and we must report them to Comrade Stalin as soon as possible."
"Is it serious?" Vasilevsky asked after a half-second silence.
"I think so," Yuri said.
