Chapter 39: Perseverance
"Very good, very good," Khrushchev was very satisfied after observing with the telescope for a while. He waved to a soldier who followed him and watched the soldier run back to his motorcycle and take down a camera. Then he said, "What's your name, Comrade Captain?"
"Yuri, Yuri Arkhipovich? Kulyokov." Yuri said excitedly.
"Very good, Comrade Captain Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov, as a Red Army commander and fighter, you have performed very well. In the past few hours of fighting, you have proved with your actions that you are an excellent Red Army soldier." Khrushchev patted Yuri on the shoulder and said.
"As a recognition of your heroic behavior, I am now promoting you to major," Khrushchev continued, "Your duty is to continue to hold on here and repel every invading enemy. Behind you, in Rivne, Dubno, and Kremenets, our huge mechanized forces are gathering. By tomorrow morning at the latest, we will take Lutsk back from the Germans..."
Take Lutsk back from the Germans?
Yuri's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. It turned out that Lutsk behind him had been lost. In other words, he and his 209th Battalion were now fighting behind the German front line? No wonder the Germans disappeared after the battle in the morning. It turned out that they had gone around to the back of his defense line.
Yuri could guess without asking that the reason why the Germans did not choose this as the main direction of attack was definitely because of his own prediction. The bridge over the Stel River was probably not blown up, and the Germans successfully broke through the Stel River defense line. The position he held was retreated from the main position to a very unimportant secondary position. The Germans did not have to spend much effort to capture his position. If it were not for the swamp corridor explored before, his entire 209th Battalion would probably be trapped here.
Yuri was in no mood to listen to what Khrushchev had to say. He was thinking about his own situation. To be wise, the best route to choose now was for the entire 209th Battalion to retreat quickly towards Rovno. The Germans' blitzkrieg had always been a large-scale breakthrough in the main offensive direction to cut through the opponent's defenses. This offensive method was not aimed at occupying a large area. Therefore, behind the 209th Battalion, there should be many gaps on the German offensive route that could be inserted. It should not be difficult for a small-scale unit like the 209th Battalion to retreat.
But the problem was that Khrushchev had already given the order that he needed to hold on here and wait for the counterattack from the large forces in the rear.
Well, Yuri didn’t know whether a counterattack would come or not. He only knew that his situation was very bad. If it weren’t for the swamp passage, he would have ignored this damn order and run away.
By now, Yuri felt more and more the importance of the swamp passage, but he could not hold on here for too long. Otherwise, once the German front line advanced to the Goren River, his only choice would be to hide in the jungle swamp and fight guerrilla warfare.
"Yuri Arkhipovich? Comrade Major Kulyokov," Khrushchev apparently didn't realize that the captain in front of him was distracted. He emphasized the inevitable victory of the Red Army's counterattack and asked, "The position you are defending is very important. Therefore, despite the arduous task, you must persist. Now, tell me, what difficulties do you have that I need to help you solve?"
Difficulties that need to be solved? Ha, there are too many, such as artillery, ammunition, and radio stations that can be used to communicate with the rear. Unfortunately, Yuri knew very well that apart from the possibility of the radio station, Khrushchev could not provide the rest.
"Radio, Comrade Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, we need a radio that can communicate with the regiment headquarters," said Yuri.
"I'm very sorry, Comrade Major," the major standing aside said, "I can provide you with a radio, but we can't contact the 47th Regiment Headquarters. Levotsky fell into the hands of the Germans three hours ago, and your 47th Regiment Headquarters has been completely disconnected."
This result was within Yuri's expectations, but he still pretended to remain silent.
"Oleshny, leave the backup radio behind," Khrushchev waved his hand and gave the major an order. "Comrade Major Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov, although you cannot contact the 47th Regiment, you are not fighting alone. You can contact the military district headquarters directly, and contact me directly. I will be waiting for your good news at the headquarters."
With Khrushchev's order, the major could not say anything. He turned around and directed the soldiers to leave the spare radio station behind. He also gave Yuri a code book. Of course, he also reminded him that the code book must be destroyed at the critical moment.
Khrushchev and his entourage stayed at the 209th Battalion’s base for less than 20 minutes. Apart from arranging a photographer to take some photos, they left a radio and then left in a hurry.
In fact, Yuri still admired Khrushchev for being able to come to such a place alone during the war. At the same time, he also realized that the entire battlefield, including Volynsk and Lutsk, must have been in chaos. As a representative of the military region, Khrushchev's purpose of coming here must not be for his small 209th Battalion, but to go to the headquarters of a certain army group.
When checking the map just now, Yuri vaguely remembered that there seemed to be the number of the 4th Mechanized Army marked in the direction of Rozhsky. It was not far from here, just in the northwest direction, less than 15 kilometers in a straight line. If nothing unexpected happened, Khrushchev and his party should be preparing to go there.
Yuri felt relieved to learn that there were large friendly forces in the nearby area and that his location was not the main battlefield.
After seeing off Khrushchev and his entourage, Yuri immediately summoned the commanders of each company to a meeting at the command post. He conveyed the news that Khrushchev was personally visiting the battlefield and arranged for photographers to take pictures and record the situation. He also told these grassroots commanders in a confident tone that the news of the 209th Battalion fighting on the front line would be published in the newspapers.
It's in the newspapers. Don't underestimate this kind of thing. In this day and age, it represents the supreme honor for every soldier, and its effect in boosting the morale of the troops is something that ordinary people cannot realize.
…
The thick night once again enveloped the entire Kiev, but unlike usual, Kiev tonight was destined to be restless.
Because of the heavy losses of the Air Force, air supremacy over Kiev and surrounding areas was basically lost. Throughout the day today, German planes carried out six bombings on Kiev. Many places in the city were reduced to ruins, and the Kiev Special Military District headquarters was naturally no exception.
Fortunately, the long day finally passed, and the German fighter planes did not dare to fly to Kiev at night, so the city that had suffered all day finally calmed down.
In a barracks temporarily selected at the military district headquarters, Zhukov, who had hurried over from Moscow at noon, was smoking. On the long table in front of him was a messy-looking situation map.
Opposite Zhukov was a slightly fat guy, Zhukov's deputy, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin. On Vatutin's right stood a middle-aged man with a horse face and black-framed glasses, the Chief of Staff of the Kiev Special Military District Maxim Alexeevich Purkayev.
The atmosphere in the room was solemn, and everyone had a very serious expression on their face. As the person with the highest position, Zhukov would look at his watch from time to time, as if he was waiting for someone or some news.
In this solemn and depressing atmosphere, the sound of leather boots stepping on wooden boards came from outside the door. The sound was hurried and chaotic. It was obvious that the people coming were walking very fast and there were quite a few of them.
After a while, the slightly closed door was pushed open from the outside. A tall, square-faced middle-aged man strode in. Before he even stopped, he shouted, "Comrade Nikita Sergeevich has found the headquarters of the 4th Mechanized Army, but the situation is not very good. At present, they have lost contact with the 81st Motorized Division and are seriously understaffed."
After the man said this, he walked to the long table and threw the military cap in his hand onto the table with a bang. Only at this time did a group of people come in from outside the door.
Zhukov tilted his head and looked. Apart from the person who was speaking, he also knew the four or five people behind him.
The person who spoke was the current commander of the Kiev Special Military District, Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos. Behind him were the current senior generals of the Kiev Special Military District. Nikolai Dmitrievich Yakovlev, who looked like a big forehead, was currently the artillery commander of the military district; Colonel Hovhannes Khachaturovich Baghramyan, who looked like an honest man, had just replaced Colonel Rubtsov as the director ; and Zhukov's old friend, Vasily Yevlanpievich Belokoskov, the assistant commander and supply director of the military district who was highly appreciated by Kirponos. As for the three people standing at the back with worried expressions, they were Putukhin, the commander of the military district's air force, and Generals Muzchenko and Kostenko, who commanded the fifth and sixth armies respectively.
Very good, except for Khrushchev who was searching for the lost 4th Mechanized Army and Dobykin, the director of communications of the military district who was inspecting the restoration of communications, the main generals of the first echelon of the entire Kiev Special Military District were basically present.
