The tank stopped opposite the trench. Katukov got out of the tank and ran across the trench. As he approached, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, your plan is really perfect. In just ten minutes, you annihilated this German tank detachment."


    I gave him a wry smile, didn''t speak, just looked around. I saw several stretchers carried out from the trench. The soldiers lying on the stretchers did not move. It seemed that they either died or were seriously injured. Seeing this, I can''t help but feel heavy. I think that the infantry in the trench just now don''t shoot at the German tanks without authorization, but only fight the escaped tank soldiers, so they will almost have no casualties.


    Turning his head, he saw chisgakov, katukov and yevlemenko standing beside him. He said solemnly, "come with me to the regiment headquarters. Let''s have a summary meeting." With that, I buried my head and walked forward, with three people following me.


    After a few steps, it suddenly occurred to me that I would hold a combat summing up meeting and at least call on the deputy commander of the 1073 regiment who had participated in the combat and was also the commander of the first battalion. So I stopped, turned to chisgakov and said, "Comrade Colonel, please give me your deputy commander, which is the commander of the first battalion


    "Colonel chernukov!" Chisgakov quickly told me the name of his deputy commander.


    "Yes, that''s lieutenant colonel chernukov! Call on him and go to the regiment headquarters to have a summary meeting. " Then I went to the headquarters without looking back.


    Although chisgakov did not understand the reason why I was not happy, he called a soldier and asked him to inform the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel chernukov, to come to the regiment headquarters for a meeting.


    After entering the headquarters, I was still gloomy and asked chisgakov, "Comrade commander, tell me about it. How many casualties did a battalion lose in the battle just now? "


    The colonel was stunned by my abrupt question. It took him a long time to murmur and reply, "Mr. division, I have been with you just now. I haven''t had time to know the specific casualties. But don''t worry. When chernugove comes, you''ll know the exact number immediately. "


    I turned my head to katukov again and asked without expression, "Comrade General, how are the casualties of the tank brigade?"


    "There were not many casualties," katukov replied in a relaxed tone. "Two tanks were destroyed, six tank soldiers were killed and four wounded. 16 German tanks were destroyed, one captured, 12 captured and 56 killed. "


    As soon as he finished speaking, a commander in helmets came in and stood at attention in front of me. He said in a loud voice, "report, comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel chernukov, deputy head of the 1073rd regiment and commander of the first battalion, is reporting to you. Please direct the next combat task."


    I didn''t return the gift, just said in a light tone: "first report the casualties of your camp!"


    "19 people were killed and 27 injured. The shells destroyed three light machine guns and two heavy machine guns. "


    I slapped my hand on the table and asked aloud, "why open fire at will? You should know that your task is only to assist artillery and tank soldiers to eliminate the enemy escaping from the tank, not to fight with the enemy''s tank with infantry''s light weapons! These dozens of soldiers died worthless, do you understand? "


    In the face of my question, Lieutenant Colonel chernugoff blushed and explained to me in a hurry: "when we saw our comrades escaping from the tank were killed by the enemy''s machine gun, some soldiers could not control their emotions and took the lead in shooting. As a result, a chain reaction was triggered, which led to all the soldiers on high alert firing together."


    "Enough, explanation is cover up, cover up is make up reason." I couldn''t help interrupting his words: "do you think the bullets in the soldier''s gun are armor piercing bullets, which can penetrate the German tank armor? Do you know how many unnecessary casualties will be caused by this unauthorized firing? As a commander, we should first know how to cherish the lives of soldiers... "


    "Rita, Rita, don''t worry. Calm down first!" Seeing that chernukov was red in the face when I scolded him, katukov came to the end and said, "this is a war. Sacrifice is inevitable."


    Before he finished, the telephone on the desk rang. I picked up the receiver and asked, "Hello, who is it?"


    "I''m rokosovsky, Rita. You''re very angry!"


    Hearing the voice of the commander, I straightened up, stabilized my mood and asked respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander! Do you have any instructions? "


    "What''s the situation on your side? When are you going to attack?" Listen to the voice, rokosovsky seems to be in the same bad mood as me, so the question is full of gunpowder.


    "Report to commander, we have just completely annihilated the German tank detachment wedged into the defense line, and I am hosting a battle summary meeting."


    "What?" Rokosovsky was a little surprised and said: "your action is really sharp. After leaving the division headquarters for just an hour, you annihilated all the enemy''s tank detachment? Are there many casualties in the army? "


    Hearing the commander''s question, I replied in a heavy voice: "the casualties were very large, totally exceeding my expectation."


    "Give me the casualties and the results." In my mind, I went over the figures I just learned, and then reported them to rokosovsky one by one: "19 infantry of 1073 regiment were killed, 27 wounded, 2 heavy machine guns lost and 3 light machine guns lost; The 280th anti tank artillery regiment lost one gun, killed 3 people and injured 9 people; The 1st tank brigade of close guard lost 2 tanks, 6 killed and 4 injured. Only 16 German tanks were destroyed, one captured, 56 enemy killed and 12 captured. "“ Ha ha ha After listening to my data, rokosovsky laughed and said excitedly, "I said, Rita, when did you become so modest? In such a short period of time, with such a small number of casualties, you annihilated a German tank unit, you are really amazing Hearing that he was so happy, I tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, is it not a big casualty?"“ It''s not too big, it''s not too big. Such casualties can even be negligible At this point, there was no sound in the receiver. I thought the line was broken. After a few shouts, I just wanted to ask the signalman to check the line. There was rokosovsky''s voice in the receiver. His voice became stern again: "Rita, another German army wedged into the defense line should be eliminated as soon as possible. At present, the situation in sun mountain city is very bad. Our army and the German army are in a stalemate. I may transfer the close guard tank brigade back in the near future, so your attack should be fierce soon. Do you understand? "“ Understand“ Well, good luck Then he hung up. I put the receiver on the phone, looked at chisjakov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, where is the other German army wedged into the line of defense?" He looked down at the map in front of him, nodded with his hand and said, "here it is!" He raised his head and explained to me and katukov, "this is the junction of our regiment and the three battalions of 1075 regiment. After the enemy broke in here, they stopped attacking. According to our analysis, they may be short of troops and are waiting for reinforcements in place. "“ What kind of forces are they? " Katukov was the first to ask me what I wanted to ask“ Almost all of them are infantry. They have about one and a half companies and more than 300 people. They don''t carry many heavy weapons. In addition to four or five armored vehicles, they also carry a small number of mortars and heavy machine guns. " After introducing the situation, I said to katukov, "Comrade General, I''ll go to the defense area of 1075 regiment with the head of the team. You and your tank brigade will come later. We''ll try to eliminate this enemy before dark. We don''t have much time left." Then he turned to chisgakov and said, "come on, comrade Colonel! Let''s go to the defense area of 1075 regiment and let them prepare for the attack first. "